Chronology

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Here is a list of significant events in the Bragg vs. Robertson mountaintop removalcase:

April 18, 1998 - The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and 10

coalfield residents filed a formal notice that they planned to sue the state Divisionof Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers overmountaintop removal permitting.

July 16, 1998 - Sixty days after their warningnotice, lawyers for the Conservancy and the citizens filed a complaint in U.S.District Court in Charleston against DEP and the Corps. The complaint allegedthat both agencies regularly issued mountaintop removal permits that violatewater quality regulations and reclamation rules.

Nov. 4, 1998 - Then-DEPDirector Michael Miano issued a permit for Arch Coal Inc. to expand its Dal-Tex
mountaintop removal site near Blair, Logan County. The 3,100-acre permit was thelargest issued in West Virginia history.

Dec. 23, 1998 - Lawyers for the

Conservancy agree to drop their complaints against the Corps. In return, federalofficials promise to more closely scrutinize mining permits and conduct a detailedstudy of mountaintop removal.

March 3, 1999 - After several days of hearingsand a tour of the proposed site, Haden issued a preliminary injunction blockingArch's Dal-Tex expansion permit. The judge said a helicopter flyover of Southern

West Virginia had revealed, "the extent and permanence of environmentaldegradation this type of mining produces."

July 26, 1999 - Lawyers for DEP and the citizens agreed to settle most of thelawsuit. DEP promised to write strict new rules that require operators to rebuildmountains and replant forests. The two sides agreed to ask Haden to decide theone issue they couldn't resolve - whether the stream buffer zone rule prohibitsvalley fills in perennial and intermittent streams.

Oct. 20, 1999 - In a 49-pageruling, Haden concluded that the citizens were right. The buffer zone rule prohibitsmost large valley fills. The judge blocked DEP Director Michael Castle fromapproving any new fills in perennial and intermittent streams.

Oct. 29, 1999 -Haden suspended his ruling, pending an appeal to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court ofAppeals in Richmond, Va.